I think I'm beginning to understand why many anti-gunners hate all gun owners...

[spin]

Many anti-gun people don't understand people who own and enjoy firearms. They live in a movie fantasy land and this is how they view all legal gun owners:











While this post is an attempt at humor, I suspect there is a lot of truth in it. I should explain that I have known a lot of gun owners over the years and none resembled the people in any of these pictures. Such people may exist, but such people are rare. There are eighty million gun owners in the states. They resemble your co-workers, your minister, your plumber, your kid’s teacher, your college professor, your doctor, your banker, your stock broker, etc., etc.

Note: this may not apply if you live in gun unfriendly states but take a visit to Disney World in Florida and you will find yourself in a state where the above description is very accurate. Many of the cars you pass or pass you in Florida (tourists drive slowly) have legal loaded firearms inside. Some of the people you encounter if you travel around Florida and visit places like the malls will be carrying concealed firearms. You might possibly encounter an old fart with a bad limp and a Pittsburgh Steelers hat. That might be me. I carry.

Millions of people visit Florida each year and enjoy the experience. If gun owners were so terrifying, they would never enjoy the tourist attractions and the beaches.

We are not paranoid and we don't all have small penises. We are not afraid. We are realistic and we realized that sometimes bad things happen to good people. We often have fire extinguishers in our house and wear seat belts when we drive.

We don't consider ourselves either vigilantes or cops. We don't go looking for trouble, because we are smart enough to realize that if we do trouble will find us. We often use our firearms for a variety of activities such as hunting or target shooting or just plinking at soda cans. We don't love or fondle our firearms but merely use them for legitimate purposes and simply clean oil and maintain them. You won’t find us setting around the living room playing with our firearms while we watch TV.

Some of us collect firearms for pleasure and for investment just as some people collect stamps or coins. A few of us who are very extreme run around in the woods playing soldier with camouflage outfits, preparing for an evil dictatorial government who plans to haul gun owners off to concentration camps. While these people exist, they are represent an extremely small number of our group and are shunned by most gun owners as nuts.

But we do vote, and we consider our right to own firearms as a privilege that might be taken away by those who pander to liberals who don't understand us for political profit. In close elections our votes often make the difference.

Often the anti-gun politicians realize they have no real inexpensive solutions to the problem of violence in our society and merely pass "feel good" laws that do little or nothing or order to get reelected. The problem of violence in our society is complex and involves far more factors than the availability of firearms. These factors include education, discrimination, and availability of well paying jobs and true opportunity for all. Overcoming these problems is extremely difficult and costly. It’s far simpler to pass laws that are merely words on paper and cost basically nothing. The liberal voting base and the Brady Campaign will cheer in joy.

But not all gun owners are Freepers or Republicans. A good percentage of us are Democrats who oppose the ultra conservative, ultra religious philosophy of the Republican Party. To be fair a lot of us who would vote for Democrats simply refuse. These people are single issue voters. The draconian approach of the Democratic Party to gun control has alienated these voters. Effectively, the party has shot itself in the foot.

Somehow, the Republican Party managed to snatch the truly liberal and progressive idea that is the Second Amendment away from the liberal faction of the Democratic Party. This always amazes me as gun control is basically a racist idea designed to keep firearms from "those people" and allow this privilege only for the rich and influential. Firearm ownership was very important in the civil rights effort. The KKK enjoyed running roughshod over minorities until these unprivileged were actually permitted to own firearms and formed armed groups ready to oppose the KKK. Bullies in white sheets make good targets in the dark. The night riders decided that it was a bad idea to attempt to terrorize armed individuals.

Gun owners are very similar to those who don’t own firearms. We are often very well educated and hold professional jobs, but we represent a wide cross section of society. While we are not angels with wings, we are basically law abiding, good citizens who oppose gun violence in our county. We understand firearms and with that knowledge we often find fault with foolish gun control ideas. If they actually worked, we would support them.
But I believe we can work together to reduce crime and violence. First we all need to turn down the rhetoric, stop the insults and stop treating the problem like a game played by two football teams in the Super Bowl.

edited for fat fingers